Tropes In Day Of The Dead

Zombies have been a common occurrence in pop culture for over forty years. They have made appearances in many films, books, and even video games. The more zombie media you watch, the more you realize that zombie films are not about zombies. They are clearly about the humans within the film and whatever message the director is trying to convey. George A. Romero is an excellent example of a director using zombies as a metaphor for something far greater. In his film Day of the Dead, Romero used zombies as a way of getting the message across of people being selfish in nature and the biggest threat to survival. The use of tropes is an excellent way of conveying certain messages. The message that most zombie films are suggesting is that the zombies

Often, the zombie apocalypse is because of mankind. Whether it is a newly developed vaccine with unforeseen side effects or radiation poisoning from a space probe, zombies are created by man. This suggests that people are the reason for chaos within the world. One of the most notable moments of chaos in history is the nuclear arms race during the cold war. The U.S.A and the Soviet Union stockpiled nuclear weapons in an attempt to deter the other from attacking. This act created unrest all over the world as everyone knew that if the weapons were used, there would be disastrous results. “Death is the fate they expect, if not imminently, then within their lifetimes”( Goodman 501); people everywhere were preparing for the worst. The ability to wipe out an entire country at the hands of a rival is terrifying. The human race is threatened by its own kind and it is clear that one day the end of times will come when humanity follows through with an attempt similar to the nuclear arms race. The zombies in the media is simply a metaphor for ourselves and how we threaten our own survival like during the nuclear arms